The pledge, which has been welcomed by councils, follows the publication yesterday of Baroness Louise Casey’s National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
Among the 12 “recommendations for change” in the audit report adopted in full by the government, is a formal requirement to collect ethnicity and nationality data to support criminal investigations “for all cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation".
This is necessary after Casey found examples of “organisations avoiding the topic altogether for fear of appearing racist or raising community tensions”, said Cooper.
Data analysis from three police forces – Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire – revealed “clear evidence of over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani-heritage men”, added the Home Secretary in a Commons speech.
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